$28M apartment site set for Providence in Mount Juliet

A Birmingham, Ala.-based apartment developer will build a $28 million, 209-unit complex in Mount Juliet's Providence Central West community, the company said Monday.

Dobbins Group LLC, said the Creekside at Providence project, scheduled to open next summer, would include one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury units, along with a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse, salt-water swimming pool, fitness center, gated entry, picnic areas, fire pit, car care center, business center and coffee bar.

Included in the apartments will be nine-foot ceilings, wood-plank floors, granite countertops and side-by-side refrigerators. Some units also will have attached garages.

Rents will range from $900 to $1,700, said Bill Dobbins, principal of Dobbins Group.

"We've been working on the deal a couple of years," Dobbins said. "It will be just west of Providence, on an extension of Providence Parkway. It will dead-end right into our property. This will be the nicest property in the Mt. Juliet area. They have attached garages, all of the amenities you would expect.

"The $1,700 unit will be a large three-bedroom with a two-car garage," he said.

Capstone Building Corp. will be the general contractor, and First Tennessee Bank is providing construction financing, Dobbins Group said in an announcement.

"We look forward to providing the most-upscale multifamily community to the quickly growing area," Dobbins said. "Creekside at Providence will be a luxury development comparable to those going up in the downtown, Gulch and Franklin areas, providing a more-economical value for residents."

Dobbins looked downtown and in Franklin, but chose to go to the Mt. Juliet area to "stay out of the fray," he said.

There will be 14 buildings with 10 to 14 units each on the 18-acre site. Groundbreaking will be later this week, Dobbins said.

The announcement comes as city leaders continue to debate how to handle the city's growing population.

A request for a moratorium on development in Mount Juliet stalled before the city commission in mid-July.

The request called for the city's planning commission to stop accepting applications for new development. Commissioner Ray Justice, who introduced the resolutions, said he thought infrastructure hadn't kept up with growth, especially on the city's south side around Providence and Providence Marketplace.

However, other city officials were concerned about how a moratorium would affect the city's growth prospects.